BROUGHT TO BAY.
Col. Montjoy was apprised of the unexpected result in the backwoods at
an early hour. He read the announcement quietly and went on his usual
morning ride undisturbed. Then through the family spread the news as the
other members made their appearance.
Mrs. Montjoy said, gently: "All happens for the best. If Mr. Montjoy had
been elected he would have been exposed for years to the Washington
climate, and he is not very well at any time. He complained of his heart
several times last night."
But Mary went off and had a good cry. She could not endure the thought
of the slightest affront to her stately father. She felt better after
her cry and kissed the old gentleman as he came in to breakfast.
"I see you have all heard the news," he said, cheerily. "Well, it lifts
a load from me. I spent four very trying years up in the neighborhood of
Washington, and I am not well disposed toward the locality. I have done
my duty to the fullest extent in this matter. The people who know me
have given me an overwhelming indorsement, and I have been beaten only
by people who do not know me! Swearingen will doubtless make a good
representative, after all. I am sorry for Evan," he added, laughing. "It
will be news to him to find out that the old Fire-Eaters have been
worsted at last." He went to breakfast with his arms around wife and
daughter. "All the honors of public life cannot compensate a man for
separation from his home," he said, "and Providence knows it."
Annie was silent and anxious. She made a feeble effort to sympathize
with the defeated, but with poor success. During the morning she started
at every sound and went frequently to the front door. She knew her
cousin, and something assured her that his hand was in this mischief.
How would it affect her? In her room she laughed triumphantly.
"Vain fools!" she exclaimed; "let them stay where they belong!" In the
afternoon there was the sound of buggy wheels, and a servant brought to
the veranda, where they were sitting, a package. Adjusting his glasses,
the colonel opened it to find one of the extras. At the head of this was
written: "Thinking it probable that it may be important for this to
reach you to-day, and fearing it might not otherwise, I send it by
messenger in buggy. Use them as you desire." To this was signed the name
of a friend.
Annie, who watched the colonel as he read, saw his face settle into
sternness, and then an expression of anxiety overspread it. "Anything
serious, Norton?" It was the voice of his wife, who sat knitting.
"A matter connected with the election calls me to town," he said; "I
hope it will be the last time. I shall go in with the driver who brought
the note." He went inside and made his few arrangements and departed
hurriedly. After he was gone, Annie picked up the paper from the hall
table, where he had placed it, and read the fatal announcement. Although
frightened, she could scarcely conceal her exultation. Mary was passing;
she thrust the paper before her eyes and said: "Read that! So much for
entertaining strangers!"
Mary read. The scene whirled about her, and but for the knowledge that
her suffering was bringing satisfaction to the woman before her she
would have fallen to the floor. She saw in the gleeful eyes, gleaming
upon her, something of the truth. With a desperate effort she restrained
herself and the furious words that had rushed to her lips, and laid
aside the paper with unutterable scorn and dignity.
"The lie is too cheap to pass anywhere except in the backwoods," was all
she said.
A smile curled the thin lips of the other as she witnessed the desperate
struggle of the girl. The voice of Col. Montjoy, who had returned to the
gate, was heard calling to Mary:
"Daughter, bring the paper from the hall table."
She carried it to him. Something in her pale face caused him to ask:
"Have you read it, daughter?"
She nodded her head. He was instantly greatly concerned and began some
rambling explanation about campaign lies and political methods. But he
could not disguise the fact that he was shocked beyond expression. She
detained him but a moment. Oh, wonderful power of womanly intuition!
"Father," she said faintly, "be careful what you do. The whole thing
originated back yonder," nodding her head toward the house. She had said
it, and now her eyes blazed defiance. He looked upon her in amazement,
not comprehending, but the matter grew clearer as he thought upon it.
Arriving in the city he was prepared for anything. He went direct to
Royson's office, and that gentleman seeing him enter smiled. The visit
was expected and desired. He bowed formally, however, and moving a chair
forward locked the door. Darkness had just fallen, but the electric
light outside the window was sufficient for an interview; neither seemed
to care for more light.
"Amos," said the old man, plunging into the heart of the subject, "you
have done a shameful and a cruel thing, and I have come to tell you so
and insist upon your righting the wrong. You know me too well to suspect
that personal reasons influence me in the least. As far as I am
concerned the wrong cannot be righted, and I would not purchase nor ask
a personal favor from you. The man you have insulted so grievously is a
stranger and has acted the part of a generous friend to those who,
although you may not value the connection, are closely bound to you. In
the name of God, how could you do it?" He was too full of indignation to
proceed, and he had need of coolness.
The other did not move nor give the slightest evidence of feeling. He
had this advantage; the part he was acting had been carefully planned
and rehearsed. After a moment's hesitation, he said:
"You should realize, Col. Montjoy, that I have acted only after a calm
deliberation, and the matter is not one to be discussed excitedly. I
cannot refuse to talk with you about it, but it is a cold-blooded matter
of policy only." The manner and tone of the speaker chilled the elder to
the heart. Royson continued: "As for myself and you--well, it was an
open, impersonal fight. You know my ambition; it was as laudable as
yours. I have worked for years to keep in the line of succession; I
could not be expected to sit silent and while losing my whole chance see
my friend defeated. All is fair in love and war--and politics. I have
used such weapons as came to my hand, and the last I used only when
defeat was certain."
Controlling himself with great effort, Col. Montjoy said:
"You certainly cannot expect the matter to end here!"
"How can it proceed?" A slight smile lighted the lawyer's face.
"A demand will be made upon you for your authority."
"Who will make it--you?"
A light dawned upon the elder. The cool insolence of the man was more
than he could endure.
"Yes!" he exclaimed, rising. "As God is my judge, if he comes to me I
shall make the demand! Ingratitude was never charged against one of my
name. This man has done me a lasting favor; he shall not suffer for need
of a friend, if I have to sacrifice every connection in the world."
Again the lawyer smiled.
"I think it best to remember, colonel, that we can reach no sensible
conclusion without cool consideration. Let me ask you, then, for
information. If I should answer that the charges in my letter, so far as
Morgan's parentage is concerned, were based upon statements made by a
member of your immediate family, what would be your course?"
"I should denounce you as a liar and make the quarrel my own."
Royson grew pale, but made no reply. He walked to his desk, and taking
from it a letter passed it to the angry man. He lighted the gas, while
the colonel's trembling hands were arranging his glasses, and stood
silent, waiting. The note was in a feminine hand. Col. Montjoy read:
"My Dear Amos: I have been thinking over the information I gave
you touching the base parentage of the man Morgan, and I am not
sure but that it should be suppressed so far as the public is
concerned, and brought home here in another way. The facts
cannot be easily proved, and the affair would create a great
scandal, in which I, as a member of this absurd family, would
be involved. You should not use it, at any rate, except as a
desperate measure, and then only upon the understanding that
you are to become responsible, and that I am in no way whatever
to be brought into the matter. Yours in haste,
"Annie."
The reader let the paper fall and covered his face with his hands a
moment. Then he arose with dignity.
"I did not imagine, sir, that the human heart was capable of such
villainy as yours has developed. You have stabbed a defenseless stranger
in the back; have broken faith with a poor, jealous, weak woman, and
have outraged and humiliated me, to whom you are personally indebted
financially and otherwise. Unlock your door! I have but one honorable
course left. I shall publish a card in the morning's paper stating that
your letter was based upon statements made by a member of my family;
that they are untrue in every respect, and offer a public apology."
"Will you name the informant?"
"What is that to you, sir?"
"A great deal! If you do name her, I shall reaffirm the truth of her
statements, as in the absence of her husband I am her nearest relative.
If you do not name her, then the public may guess wrong. I think you
will not do so rash a thing, colonel. Keep out of the matter.
Circumstances give you a natural right to hands off!"
"And if I do!" exclaimed the old man, passionately, "who will act for
him?" The unpleasant smile returned to the young man's lips.
"No one, I apprehend!"
Montjoy could have killed him as he stood. He felt the ground slipping
from under him as he, too, realized the completeness and cowardliness of
the plot.
"We shall see; we shall see!" he said, gasping and pressing his hand to
his heart. "We shall see, Mr. Royson! There is a just God who looks down
upon the acts of all men, and the right prevails!"
Royson bowed mockingly but profoundly.
"That is an old doctrine. You are going, and there is just one thing
left unsaid. At the risk of offending you yet more, I am going to say
it."
"I warn you, then, to be careful; there is a limit to human endurance
and I have persistently ascribed to me the worst of motives in this
matter, but I have as much pride in my family as you in yours. There are
but few of us left. Will you concede that if there is danger, in her
opinion, that she will become the sister-in-law of this man, and that
she believed the information she has given to be true, will you concede
that her action is natural, if not wise, and that a little more
selfishness may after all be mixed in mine?" Gradually his meaning
dawned upon his hearer. For a second he was dumb. And all this was to be
public property!
"I think," said Royson, coolly opening the door, "it will be well for
you to confer with friends before you proceed, and perhaps leave to
others the task of righting the wrongs of strangers who have taken
advantage of your hospitality to offer the deadliest insult possible in
this southern country. It may not be well to arm this man with the fact
that you vouch for him; he may answer you in the future."
He drew back from the door suddenly, half in terror. A man, pale as
death itself, with hair curling down upon his shoulders, and eyes that
blazed under the face before him, whose eyes never for a moment left
his, broke the seal. Then he read aloud:
"Mr. Amos Royson, I inclose for your inspection a clipping from
an extra issue this day, and ask if you are the author of the
letter it contains. If you answer yes, I hereby demand of you
an unconditional retraction of and apology for the same, for
publication in the paper which contained the original. This
will be handed to you by my friend, Gerald Morgan.
"Edward Morgan."
Royson recovered himself with evident difficulty.
"This is not customary--he does not demand the name of my informant!" he
said.
"We do not care a fig, sir, for your informant. The insult rests in the
use you have made of a lie, and we propose to hold you responsible for
it!"
Gerald spoke the words like a sweet-voiced girl and returned the stare
of his opponent with insolent coolness. The colonel had paused, as he
perceived the completeness of the lawyer's entrapping. Amos could not
use his cousin's name before the public and the Montjoys were saved from
interference. He was cornered. The colonel passed out hurriedly with an
affectionate smile to Gerald, saying:
"Excuse me, gentlemen; these are matters which you will probably wish to
discuss in private. Mr. Royson, I had friends wiser than myself at work
upon this matter, and I did not know it."